Combination lock



Mar. 27, 1923. 1,450,137 -G. H. COZENS COMBINATION LOCK Filed Nov. 22, 1921 FIGS 27 2 3o Z8 Z9 'l/IAJZI-IMIIF 24- 3/ IIIIIIIIIIJF George H.Cozens.

Fat-exited Mar. 27, 1923.

GEORGE HENRY COZENS, OF HAJHILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA.

COMBINATION LOCK.

Application filed November 22, 1921.

1 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon HENRY Coznns, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Hamilton. in the county of Tifentworth, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Locks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in looks of the combination or permutation type and the object of the invention is to devise such a lock which may be conveniently operated in the dark and in which the detecting of the combination by an unauthorized per son will be extremely diflicult, if not actually impossible, and further in which a dead stop position is provided from which the opening combinations are commenced thus rendering the opening of the lock by a person familiar with the combination more con venient than hitherto.

My invention consists generally of the usual casing containing the various parts of the lock, an operating handle rotatably carried th reby, a series of circumferentially spaced spring clutches within the casing and adapted to engage at intervals a finger carried by the operating handle, a plurality of superimposed spaced concentric annular ward discs having notches constituting ward in their inner periphery, an additional circular disc having an eccentric orifice therein and carried above the ward discs, all these discs rotatably supported in bearing recesses adjacent to their circumference, co-acting pins carried by the upper and lower faces of all the discs, pins carried by the operating handle and engaging the pins in. the top of the eccentric disc, a pin carried by the bottom of the casing and engaging a single pin on the under face of the bottom ward disc, a spring controlled reciprocatory locking bolt carrying a studat its inner end, said stud adapted to continuously engage the inner periphery of the eccentric disc and the wards in the other discs, all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompaning drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a central vertical transverse section of my lock in the locked position taken on the line 1, 1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal 2. 2 of Fig. 1.

I Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the concentric annular ward discs used in my lock.

section on the line Serial No. 517,051.

Fig. a is a section on the line 41, 41 of Fig. 3.

F ig. 5 is a plan view of the eccentric disc used in my invention.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6, 6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a slotted circular bottom plate by which the interior parts of my lock are carried.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8, 8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a detached perspective view of a locking bolt used in my lock.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the top cover plate of the casing of my lock showing a marked dial thereon.

Fig. 11 is a central transverse section through an annular bearing piece used in my invention. I

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the difl'erent views.

My lock comprises the bottom circular casing 1 the top side of which is closed by the circular cover plate 2 which is a press fit therein and is retained in place by the bent over flange 3 of the casing.

The cover plate 2 is provided with the central orifice 4: and is bent downwardly about said orifice at 5. 6 is a marked indicating dial on the face of the plate 2.

7 is an operating handle extending upwardly through the central orifice 4. and car- 'ries within the casing the circular flange 8 having the concentric recess 9 in its under face.

10 is a thin radial finger carried by the flange 8 and 11 are two diametrically 0pposed depending pins carried by said flange.

12 is a circular plate adapted to be pressed into the casing 1 so as to engage the bottom thereof, and is provided with the radial slot 13 extending inwardly from its circumference and with a concentric series of small orifices 1 1 into any one of which a pin 15 may be firmly secured.

16 is a cylindrical housing having the circumferential flange 17 extending outwardly from its bottom end and carrying equally spaced about its upper end the radially disposed divided spring clutch members 18.

These clutch members are formed by bending the material back upon itself to form opposed top and bottom spring blades having the points 19 and 20 thereof spring held together.

The housing 16 is secured to the plate 12 by the rivets 21 engaging the flange 17 and is located concentrically within the casing 1.

are annular flanged bearing pieces each provided with a central orifice 23 and also having a concentric recess 2% formed in its upper face. These pieces 22 are a press fit within the housing 16 (see Fig. 1).

25 is a top annular flanged bearing piece of slightly different shape which is also a press fit within the housing 16 and the upwardly disposed circular flange 26 of which freely engages within the recess 9 in the under face of the flange 8.

27 are annular ward discs each having a concentric circular orifice 28 therein and each carrying a pair of diametrically opposed pins 29, said pins projecting on both sides of the discs with the exception of the lowermost disc 27 in which case only one of the pins 29 projects below its lower face thereof. Each disc 27 is also provided with a notch 30 extending outwardly from the periphery of the central orifice 28. These notches constitute wards in the discs and will be hereinafter referred to by that title.

The discs 27 are rotatably mounted between adjacent pieces 22 the recesses 24: of

' which form bearing recesses for said discs.

31 is a circular disc rotatably mounted within the recess 24; of the topmost piece 22 and is retained therein by the top bearing piece 25.

The disc 31 has the eccentrically disposed circular orifice 32 therein and carries a pair of diametrically opposed pins 33, which pins project in both sides of the disc.

34: is a reciprocatory locking bolt comprising the fiat body portion 35 and the bent end 36 having the locking tongue 37. I

38 is an upwardly extending stud carried by the locking bolt 34: towards its inner end.

The bolt 34. has sliding engagement within the slot 13 of the plate 12, the stud-38 eXtending upwardly through the orifices in the discs 27 and 31.

39 is a spring secured at one end to the plate 12 at 40 and having its other end engaging the inner face of the bent end 36 of the locking bolt. This spring thus normally tends to force the locking bolt outwardly in the slot 13 into the unlocked position.

41 is a shackle having the parallel arms 42 thereof extending through orifices 43 in the side of the casing 1.

One of the arms 42 is provided with a series of spaced notches 44 into which the locking tongue 37 is adapted to enter when the locking bolt is moved inwardly into the locked position.

' 15 is an index pointer carried by the operating handle 7 and operates in conjunction with the marked dial 6.

The construction and operation of my invention is as follows;

The plate 12 is pressed into the casing 1 and being a press fit therein. it cannot turn within the casing.

Before the plate 12 with the housing 16 is inserted into the casing the locking bolt 34 is inserted within the slot 13.

The bearing pieces 22 with the concentric annular ward discs 27, the eccentric disc 31 and the top bearing piece 25 are now assembled within the cylindrical housing 16, the bearing pieces 22 and 25 being a tight press fit therein.

The discs 27 and 31' are rotatably mounted within the recesses 24 in the upper faces of the bearing pieces 22 and while being free to rotate therein the bearing piecescontact with both faces and the peripheral edges of the discs so that a slight frictional resistance is offered to the otherwise perfectly free turning of the discs.

The operating handle 7 is now mounted followed by the cover plate 2, which is also a press fit within a shoulder formed near the top of the casing 1, being retained in place by the bent over flange 3. g

It will be noted that the downwardly bent portion 5 of the cover plate 2 forms an upper bearing for the top face of the flange 8 thus preventing upward movement of the operating handle while the recess 9 forms a lower bearing.

The shackle 41 is inserted through the orifice 43 in the casing 1. f I

The discs 27 are all identical except that the diametrically opposed pins 29 will be disposed at different angular positions with respect to the wards 30 in the different dis-cs for example as shown in the dotted position at A in Fig. 3. Also as previously stated in the case of thebottom disc 27 only one of the pins 29 projects below the lower face thereof.

All the pins 11,29, 33 and 15 are located at the same radius so that as the lock is operated the pins will properly engage each other.

In the assembled position it will be noted that the stud 38 extends upwardly through the orifices in'the discs 27 and 31 and that the spring 39 will tend to force the locking bolt 34 outwardly so as to maintain this stud in constant engagement with the periphery of the eccentric orifice 32 in the disc 31. Thus the stud rides continuously on the circumference of the orifice as the lock is operated.

Considering the lock to be in the locked position as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Int-his position the disc 31 is disposed so that the eccentric orifice 32 therein is thrown to the right and therefore the stud 38 has been drawn inwardly to its extreme innermost position and the locking tongue 37 is in engagement with one of the notches 44 of the shackle 41 thus preventing withdrawal of the shackle.

The opening of the lock is accomplished I as follows The handle 7 is turned in the correc'tdirection until a dead stop position is reached. In this operation the eccentric disc 31 and the ward discs 27 are rotated in the same direction through the engagement of the pins 11 of the handle with the pins 33 of the eccentric disc, which latter pins engage the pins 29 on the topmost disc 27, the pins 29 of successive discs 27 engaging each other and finally the dead stop position is reached when the single pin 29 projecting below the bottom face of the lowermost disc 27 engages the pin 15 carried by the casing.

This ives a fixed positive position from which t 1e opening combinations are commenced.

The handle is now turned in the reverse direction until the lowermost disc 27 is moved into the open position in which its ward 3O lies in the path of reciprocation of the stud 38.

The direction of rotation of the handle is now reversed so that the next disc 27 is moved into its open position, the lower disc remaining unmoved.

By again reversing the direction of rotation of the handle the top disc 27 is moved into its proper position. 1 The wards 30 are now all in alignment in their open positions but it will be noted that due to the eccentric disc 31, the stud 38 cannot snap into said wards since it is restrained by engagement with the periphery of the eccentric orifice 32.

The final opening operation consists of a final turning of the handle 7 to move the disc 31 tothrow the eccentric orifice 32 therein into its left hand position, in which the stud 38 is permitted to enter the wards, the bolt 34: being pushed to the left by the spring 39, thus disengaging the tongue 37 from the notch 44 and permitting withdrawal of the shackle.

It is to be particularly noted that no sudden shooting of the locking bolt into the open position is permitted in my lock, thus indicating when the combination is in the open position, but instead after the wards 30 are all in their open positions, a further turning of the handle 7 is required and due to the stud 38 following the periphery of the eccentric orifice 32 the stud follows gradually and quietly into the wards 30 and the locking bolt 34: is moved gradually and quietly into its open position, there being no click at any tion of the combination has been reached, thus rendering the unauthorized reading of the combination practically impossible.

In order to enable the convenient operation of my lock in the dark I have provided the novel form of circumferentially spaced divided spring clutches 18 which are engaged successively by the radially extending finger 10 carried by the operating handle. As the handle is turned a resistance is encountered the dial.

time to indicate that the open ])OS1-- as the finger engages each spring clutch followed by a release as the finger disengages therefrom and thus the combination can be conveniently counted in the dark.

A further advantage of this silent clutch operation resides in the absence of all noise as the combination is followed, and there being no clicks, it is impossible for a person standing near to listen and thereby learn the combination.

A visible dial 6 is also provided on the face of the cover plate 2 the markings of which correspond to the positions of the spring clutches 18 so that in daylight the combination may be counted visibly in the ordinary way independently of the clutches 18.

Hitherto the wards have been placed at the outer periphery of the discs but by placing them at the inside, according to my invention, a greatly increased bearing surface for theward discs is obtained, which not only gives a better operation of the discs but renders the detection of the combination still more difficult, since the resistance of the discs to turning due to their increased bearing surface causes this bearing resistance to be more felt than the movement of the locking mechanism.

In order to permit of the changing of the combination of the lock I provide a. series of orifices 1a in the plate 12 and it will be obvious that the combination will be altered each time the position of the pin 15 is altered from one orifice 14 to another as this will change the initial dead stop position from which the counting of the combination is commenced.

Hitherto locks of this type have not been arranged with a dead stop initial point -lrom which to start the combination but the initial point has simply been a certain setting of By the use of such a dead stop position the opening of the lock is rendered more convenient since no time is needed to make an exact initial. setting;

By the employment of my system of diametrically opposed pins on both sides of the discs the number of turns required to open the lock is reduced by one half from that in which only a single pin is used on each disc.

The convenience of counting my combination is further increased over former locks due to the fact that divisions of the combination are spaced an appreciable distance apart the number of spring clutches 18. used determining the number of divisions whereas in former locks each main division was subdivided and the combination involved the use of these subdivisions.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised valuable improvements in combination looks which will result in a lock of great security and one which will be extremely convenient to use and further will due to the simplicity of its construction enable the cost of construction to be reduced to aminimum.

Various modifications may-be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims and therefore the exact construction shown is to be taken as illustrative onlyand not in a limitfinger carried by the operatinghandle, said finger adapted to successively engage the spring clutches as the handle is turned.

2. In a combination lock, the combination with the casing of the lock and the lock opcrating handle rotatably carried thereby, of a plurality of divided spring clutch elements spaced circumferentially within the casing, a clutch finger carried by the operating handle, said finger adapted to successively engage the spring clutches as the handle is turned.

3. In a combination lock, the combination with the reciprocatory locking bolt and the rotatable lock operating handle, of bolt op erating means comprising a circular disc having an eccentric circular orifice therein, means whereby the disc may be rotated by t e operating handle, a stud carried by lock-- ing bolt, said stud spring held in constant engagement with the periphery of the eccentric orifice in the aforesaid disc whereby the locking bolt is reciprocated as the disc is rotated;

4-. In a combination lock, the combination with the casing oft-he lock, the reciprocatory locking bolt and the operating handle rotatably carried by the casing, of a plurality of spaced superimposed concentric annular Ward discs rotatably supported adjacent to the circumferences thereof and each provided with a. radial notch constituting. a ward in its inner. periphery, an additional circular cam disc rotatably mounted above the ward discs and having an eccentric circular orifice therein, engaging pins carried by va rious discs andyby the operating handle whereby the discs may be selectively rotated by the operating handle to bring the wards into a desired aligned position, stop means for limiting the rotation of the lowermost ward disc, comprising a depending pin carried by said disc and an upwardly disposed pin carried by the casing and adapted to engage thesaid depending pin, a stud carried by the locking bolt and extending through the orifices in the discs, spring means holding thestud in constant engagement with the periphery of the eccentric orifice in the cam disc, and for reciprocating the locking bolt radially outward to engage the aligned wards to permit opening of the lock,

5. In a combination lock, the combination with the casing of the lock, the reciprocal-Jory locking bolt and the operating handle rotatably carried by the casing, of a plurality of spaced superimposed concentric annular ward discs rotatably supported adjacent to the circumferences thereof and each provided with a radial notch constituting a ward in its inner periphery, an additional circular cam disc rotatably mounted above the v ward discs and having an eccentric circular orifice therein, a pair of diametrically opposed pins carried by each disc and by the operating handle, said pins projecting from each side face of the discs and being at equal radii, the pins on the handle adapted to engage the pins on the upper side of the cam disc, thepins on the lower side of the cam disc adapted to engage those on the upper side of the topmost ward disc and the pins on successive ward discs engaging each other, the lowermost ward disc carrying only a single depending pin projecting below its under face, an upwardly disposed pin carried by the'casing and adapted to engage said single depending pin on the lowermost ward disc, a stud carried by the looking bolt and extending through the orifices in the discs, spring means normally tending to force the locking bolt radially outwardly into the unlocked position and maintaining the stud in constant engagement with the periphery of the eccentric orifice in the cam disc, saidstud adapted to engage the wards in the ward dlscs'when said discs have been moved into the unlocked position in which the wards are in alignment.

GEORGE Witnesses JOHN G. HAYWARD, NOREEN CoLEs.

HENRY COZENS. 

